


Paradigm Shift

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Series: Show Me Your Teeth [7]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Multi, Porn Battle, lycanthropy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-07
Updated: 2011-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-22 07:51:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/235811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the second full moon after Eames was infected by a werewolf. He still hasn't entirely figured out why this is working.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paradigm Shift

Arthur was sitting at his computer waiting for one of his contacts to get back to him. Ariadne sketched vague things in a notebook, waiting for the sun to come up. Eames had been a little more agitated going into this particular full moon, so he hadn't felt safe near them, even chained up. Instead, he locked himself into the basement of the house they were currently staying in. It was stone lined and had a heavy door, plus Arthur had shoved a heavy cabinet in front of the door at Eames' request. When the sun came up, Arthur would move it and they would help Eames clean up.

Some of the sketches Ariadne was going through looked like various optical illusions, reversible figures and paradoxes. It was hard to translate the sketches into three dimensional maps, but she could already picture it in her head. Arthur looked over at her notebook and then at the clock. "Sunrise is coming soon."

She nodded, looking up. "Anything yet?" She leaned forward and kissed his cheek gently when he shook his head. "Should I start another pot of coffee?"

"He'll hate that we're still up this late."

"He'd also hate it if we slept through this, so he'll have to deal with it. I'll make more coffee."

They were exhausted by the time sunrise came around, and Arthur waited another half hour just to be sure that Eames would have transformed back from a wolf to human form. Eames was sitting on the basement steps when he opened the door, sticky with sweat and smears of blood. "I'm surprised the two of you didn't fuck while I was a wolf." There was a hard edge to his voice as he pulled himself up to a standing position. "Or were you hoping one day I'd do the two of you as a wolf?"

"If you're looking for me to punch you in the mouth, you're going to have to try harder," Arthur snapped. He threw the basement door the rest of the way open, and it banged sharply into the wall. "Ariadne's running you a bath. I'm in no mood for your shit right now and she's ready to fall over. We're just as exhausted as you are, asshole."

Eames caught Arthur's arm when he got to the top of the stairs. "I told you not to stay up."

"Did you really think we could sleep?" Arthur asked, voice even and eyes frosty. "Did you think we cared so little?"

Eames was silent as he went to the bathroom to soak in the tub. Ariadne had thrown epsom salts into the water, as well as lavender scented oils. "Smells better than blood," she offered with a shrug when he lofted an eyebrow in her direction. He thanked her as he sank into the water. It was a shade too hot and everything stung. Ariadne looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes and a drawn expression on her face. She caught his look of concern and picked up her notebook. "I'm fine," she huffed, then went into the bedroom to continue sketching.

They were both asleep by the time he left the bathroom. The water had cooled and he was feeling vaguely human again. Arthur was on his side of the bed, still dressed from the day before. His laptop was on the bedside table, still powered up and with a dozen different programs running. Ariadne was sprawled across half of the remaining space, and she had changed into some kind of pajama suit with little flowers on it. The suit was new, and still smelled like soap and the store she had bought it in. Eames looked at the sketches she had made, trying to make sense of them. His eyes hurt after a while, trying to trace the lines and see what the hell she had drawn. He had no idea what it would look like in a dream, if this was some of that paradoxical architecture that Arthur kept talking about. Arthur liked puzzles, liked things complicated and messy only if he was able to make it neat and coherent.

It occurred to Eames that the two of them had bent over backward for him in the past two months. They were doing whatever they could to stick by him, even trying this kind of a relationship since it seemed to help keep his balance mentally. There had to be things that they wanted before, jobs they found interesting or places they wanted to visit. Now they were irrevocably tied to him, and he hadn't even noticed.

Feeling almost chastised, he let them sleep in peace.

***

It was late afternoon when Arthur actually woke, and he at least felt less fuzzy-headed. He checked his computer as soon as he realized that he was alone in bed. There were three messages wanting responses immediately, one that was utterly useless and two that might pan out for the job if he kept looking into it. That was promising, at least.

Ariadne's notebook and pencils had fallen to the floor, and Arthur didn't see any new sketches in them. There was a slight noise from down the hallway, and then laughter. He followed it, and saw Eames and Ariadne sitting on the floor in pajamas with children's building blocks. She was trying to demonstrate various architectural design elements, and was trying to illustrate why paradoxical architecture could never work outside of dreams. Ariadne had him try building something again, and it all came tumbling down. It made them both laugh, and Eames shook his head. "Still not my thing, darling. But I'm glad it's something you enjoy."

She caught sight of Arthur in the hallway, not quite entering the room. "Hey, you're up."

"We figured you needed the sleep," Eames drawled, not quite turning his head. He continued to build something, a massive block tower with an overhang that looked ready to fall though it never did. "I haven't been doing either of you any favors, so the least I could do was let you sleep."

Arthur frowned, as if Eames had just said something puzzling, and Eames had to hold back the urge to just kiss the man silly. What did he want? Statements of undying love? That was more Ariadne's thing than Arthur's. He would rather puzzle things out on his own and then confirm his conclusions. Arthur would have to figure out what Eames meant on his own.

"There's work to be done," Arthur said finally. Work was always a safe topic. It was easy and neutral, and wasn't anything like the emotional minefield between the three of them. "We should be able to get started by next week, I think. It'll be a job that requires long preparation time to get to the subject safely. It might even be easier if you forge someone."

Eames smiled, the edges of his smile sharp with anticipation. "Can't wait, then."

Ariadne looked over the block building with a critical eye. "Not bad," she commented with a nod. "Maybe you're getting the idea after all."

"Better late than never," Eames replied, knowing the words meant more than Ariadne thought they did.

***

Kissing Ariadne was capturing lightning in a bottle. Kissing Arthur was breaking stone walls with a pickaxe. Ariadne gave herself over to his touch easily, but she had feelings for him before he had turned. Eames had to work for every bit of Arthur's attention, breaking down his resistance bit by bit. That he loved Ariadne was obvious, and she cared for him back. He had liked Arthur before, but it had changed somewhat. Mostly because of the raging agitation that came with the change, but now he saw past the professional armor a bit. He liked what he saw. Eames couldn't be sure what Arthur saw in him, if anything at all.

The three of them were naked in bed, a tangle of limbs and mouths and tongues. Eames was mouthing one of Ariadne's breasts, fondling the other as he sprawled across the bed. Arthur was kneeling beside him, lubed fingers pushing into him at a steady pace. Ariadne had Arthur's thigh caught between her legs, and it was holding a vibrator in place inside of her. All Eames could hear was Ariadne's whimpers and moans and Arthur's harsh breathing. He was silent, drinking them in, feeling everything as if for the first time.

Ariadne was starting to writhe beneath his mouth and hand, approaching orgasm growing overwhelming. It was her third so far, and Eames' record was nine so far. Sometimes it was work, at other times she was already primed and almost ready to go. The toy was probably cheating, but he didn't usually think so.

Arthur removed his fingers, and Eames made a disappointed sound around Ariadne's breast. Her cries as she came muffled Eames' grunt of surprise as Arthur pushed his cock into Eames. He lifted his head and turned to look at Arthur in surprise. The other man had never seemed terribly interested in receiving or reciprocating all of Eames' interest in real life. Dreams were a different story, since Arthur could always dismiss it as something that wasn't real. There was no way to dismiss this. "What...?"

A sharp thrust cut off Eames' words as he made a high pitched whining sound. Arthur smirked at him. "Let's just say you're not the only one able to do this."

Eames groaned as Arthur set a punishing rhythm. He pulled Ariadne close for a kiss on the mouth, their tongues twisting and dueling as Eames fought to keep from coming right away. Ariadne grasped Eames' arms tightly, fingers digging in as she approached another orgasm. She broke the kiss and let out a strangled groan before finally shifting her hips. She pulled the vibrator out and shut it off, whimpering "Too much, too much."

Curling on her side, Ariadne ran a hand along Arthur's thigh as he pumped hard and fast into Eames. She pressed her lips to Eames's shoulder and neck, not quite kisses. Her other hand slid along his chest. _I love you,_ she mouthed against his skin, not even using her voice. She didn't have to. He knew it anyway, ever since she had pushed aside her misgivings about him as a wolf. Only a woman in love would do something like that. Anyone else would have run screaming in the opposite direction and not look back.

Ariadne moved slightly so that her hand traced the ridges of muscle in his abdomen, then closed her hand around his cock. A few sharp pulls and he was spilling over her hand. Eames' entire body clenched tight, which was enough to make Arthur lose control and come.

This was a smaller house, and they had to take turns washing up in the bathroom. "Why now?" Eames asked Arthur.

"You're not the only one capable of making changes," Arthur replied slowly. It was almost as if he was waking from a dream. "Maybe you matter to me, too, asshole," Arthur continued when Eames was silent. "It doesn't have to be just about you."

Eames pulled him close and kissed him, licking deep into his mouth and holding the back of his neck tightly so he couldn't get away. "You matter to me, too."

Ariadne climbed back into bed after pulling on one of Eames' discarded T shirts. She kissed the back of Eames' neck and then Arthur's cheek. "And you both matter to me," she added simply. "Sleep now?"

Eames smiled as Arthur nodded. Whatever this was between the three of them, it seemed to be working. He wasn't about to be an idiot and question his good fortune.


End file.
